


To Prove He Could

by JemmyMads



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, He's not having a good time, Manipulation, Poor Peter Parker, Yikes, is anyone having a good time though, no, no ones having a good time, this is a mess but enjoy it anway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 12:31:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13054050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JemmyMads/pseuds/JemmyMads
Summary: He kidnaps Peter Parker to show Tony Stark that he could. He hurt Peter Parker so that Tony Stark would hurt too.The worst pain is never physical, its the pain you feel knowing a loved one is hurt because of you.





	To Prove He Could

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this in like 4 hours after having not written anything in literally months so sorry in advance for the mess that is this pic.
> 
> Please enjoy and leave comments and kudos if you roll that way.

 

Flash watched from his place leaning against the bathroom wall as the men came in and pressed a napkin to Peter’s mouth, the already groggy teen struggling against them to no avail. Peter’s eyes slid closed right as the door opened again and a tall man with slicked back hair entered, an air of authority following him.

Flash subconsciously pushed away from the wall and stood up straight, watching as Justin Hammer inspected Parker, scrutinizing every aspect of the knocked out teen, “And this is the one who’s doing the Stark internship?”

Flash nodded once, “Yeah, Parker is always talking about his time with Stark to his friend, he should learn to shut his mouth.”

Hammer stared at Flash a second longer before pursing his lips and turning to his men who were now holding Peter between them, “No mistakes are to be made, leave his backpack with Mr. Thompson and destroy his phone. He will not be tracked.”

One man began tying Peter’s hands behind his back while the other one patted down the kid, pulling out an old Blackberry phone and dropping it on the ground, crushing it beneath his steel toed boot and flushing the pieces down the toilet. Flash moved from his spot and grabbed Parker’s backpack, slinging it over one shoulder. Hammer seemed satisfied and motioned for his men to move, and the men exited the building as quickly and quietly as they came, Flash watched them leave, shoving Peter into the trunk of a small looking car.

Hammer came up beside him, putting his lanky arm over Flash’s shoulders, “You did good kid, doesn’t it feel good to convince him like that, an outstanding performance, I can’t wait for your  _ part two _ .”

Flash flinched slightly, but stared resolutely forward until Hammer was in his car and driving away.

Jesus Christ what had he gotten into.

 

~

 

Peter woke up remembering nothing.

Well, to be fair, he remembered what the chemical equation was for glucose and knew what all the symbolism was in Lord of the Flies, but he couldn’t remember anything of importance.

Like where he was.

Or why he was there in the first place.

He looked around his surroundings, which would look like a small loft apartment, if not for the boarded up windows, chains littering the ground, and suspicious stains on all surfaces that looked too close to blood for Peter’s comfort.

“Oh don’t worry about the surroundings darling, we’ll be moving to a much lovelier place soon, I just need to cross some t’s and cross some i’s.”

Peter’s head snapped to the source of sound, a lanky man wearing a black overcoat and dark sunglasses, which he took off, as if realizing Peter’s distaste at not being able to see the man’s eyes.

Peter fought against his bonds, but the chloroform was still heavy in his system making his muscles weak and his head heavy. The man saw Peter’s attempts and hurried over, taking the teens shoulders in a gentle grip to stop his futile fight, “Don’t do that darling, they’re only there as precaution, until we know you won’t fight us.”

Peter stopped squirming and squinted at the man kneeling before him, “Who the hell are you? What do you want from me?”

“My name is Justin Hammer, I want you to stop struggling before you hurt yourself.” Justin said with an earnest expression and sincere voice. Something sprang to the front of his brain, he knew that name but before he could think about it further the thought slipped away leaving Peter with nothing but frustration and a sense of familiarity, though he couldn’t tell if the familiarness was a good thing or not.

He really couldn’t remember much besides some basic facts about himself and the fact that he was supposed to be somewhere that definitely wasn’t  _ here. _

Justin seemed to sense his inner battle and cupped Peter’s face gently, the gesture comforting but revolting at the same time, “Don’t think too much baby, you hurt yourself and we just need to make sure you’ll be ok.”

Peter nodded slightly and leaned into the touch, pushing down the persistent thought that was screaming  _ THIS IS WRONG THIS IS WRONG THIS IS WRON- _

“Honey? How about I get you something to eat and I’ll untie you.” 

“That,” Peter’s voice cracked slightly, “that would be nice, thank you.”

Justin smiled and stood up again, ruffling Peter’s hair affectionately before moving out of the room.

The teen was well out of earshot, Justin pulled his phone out and called Mr. Thompson, the phone only ringing once before the kid was eagerly answering, “Whatever you gave Mr. Parker worked like a charm, he’s confused and doesn’t seem to remember anything. I’ll need you to make me at least 15 more doses before the day is up, I’ll have someone from my team retrieve them.” He hung up before the kid could so much as say a word.

Time to really lay on the charm and get Peter Parker on his good side.

 

~

 

Happy waited 10 minutes before getting fed up and calling Peter, but instantly getting his voicemail. They were supposed to be meeting a block away from the kid’s school so he could drive him to the tower, where Peter was staying while May Parker was on a well deserving vacation with Laura Barton.

But the kid was nowhere in sight and wasn’t answering his phone. Happy hated going “helicopter parent”, as Clint had lovingly put it, but with the way trouble seemed to follow Peter, it was justified for him to get worried. He pulled out his phone again and went to the tracking feature that Tony had put on his phone for this very reason, though the downside was that everytime the app was opened F.R.I.D.A.Y. was alerted and Tony would know within seconds that something was wrong. 

Happy stared in confusion at his screen, tapping it irritatedly when no “ping” showed up to show Peter’s location. That would only happen if Peter’s phone had been completely destroyed, and if Peter’s phone had been completely he would’ve already been with Happy because he knew how much Happy and Tony and Pepper and basically all the adults in his life worried about him.

It was disconcerting.

Happy’s thoughts were brought to a halt when a call from Tony came through, Happy had barely answered it when he was being bombarded with worried questions, “Why did you have to use the tracker? Is the kid with you? Did he lose his phone again? Do I need to come down there?”

“Tony, I don’t know what’s going on. Peter is not with me and no red mark is showing his location, I may be overreacting but I think something’s wrong.”

There was a brief pause over the line and Happy could distinctly hear the sound of his own erratic heartbeat.

“I’ll be there in 5.”

Happy sighed and slipped his phone into his pocket and opted to wait impatiently for Tony Stark to help him find their Spiderling.

 

~

 

One of Justin’s men informed him that Iron Man was seen in Queens and Justin smiled, satisfied with himself. Tony Stark did, in fact, care for the boy sitting in the forgotten apartment, and Justin Hammer wanted to find out just how far he could push Stark before he broke. The kid was a means to an end.

Justin returned to Peter, bring in the water that the teen had requested before sitting beside the kid, waiting for him to set the glass down before wrapping a sturdy arm around his small shoulders, pulling hims gently into his side. The teen’s soft, fluffy hair tickled the underside of Justin’s chin and he unconsciously tightened his grip on the teen’s sweater clad arm.

“Hey Pete, how you feeling?” He asked, making sure his voice was quiet and soothing. Within seconds of the kid being awake, Justin had picked up on the fact that he would be prone to a sensory overload, which was not in Justin’s carefully thought out plan.

“I’m ok Justin, just a little sleepy and confused. I wish I could remember what happened.”

“I know darling, I know. You’ll remember soon, I promise, just give it time. I’ll be here every step of the the way.”

Peter sighed contently and leaned further into his side, nuzzling against his shoulder slightly, “Thank you, Justin.”

“Of course, sweetie.”

A few minutes passed of comfortable silence, and then Peter was asleep, breathing softly. Justin slowly untangled himself from the kid, lowering him fully onto the cot they had pulled in for him, pulling a blanket over the sleeping teen.

He gave himself a minute to admire both his handy work and the beauty of the child sleeping, before turning away and moving out of the door to the guard he had posted, “Time to contact Tony Stark.”

 

~

 

Tony had just found the broken remains of Peter’s phone blocking the pipe of a school toilet when Happy sucked in an audible breath and hurried to Tony’s side, shoving his phone in Tony’s face, “Boss you gotta see this.”

Tony barely heard him though, he was too focused on the image in front of him. Justin Hammer.

The genius reached out and pressed play and Hammer’s face became animated, “Oh hiya there Tony. Long time no see, don’tcha think? Now listen, I got something with me that I’m sure you’re missing dearly right now

The camera flipped to show the still form of Peter, laying on a metal cot with a blanket pulled up to his chin. Tony clenched his fist and grit his teeth.

“Now, I know you’re obviously just gonna trace this call and find where I’m keeping you’re precious...intern? Except, you care more about this boy than any boss should his intern. So I think I’ll keep dear Peter here with me until you complete the attached list.

Hammer showed the image of Peter again just as the teen shifted slightly in his sleep, a single curl falling over his eye.

“And keep in mind,  _ Stark _ , if I so much as think that you’re going to attempt to rescue Mr. Parker before you’ve completed my list, the kid will be in such intolerable pain in mere seconds, he’ll never be the same again. Don’t make me ruin an innocent just because you refuse to play by the rule. Until then, Tony.”

The screen went to black just as a message appeared. Tony swiped to open it and read through the list, which was relatively short, though certain tasks sent shivers racing down Tony’s spine. He turned to Happy, “I’m flying back to the tower to look over these with the rest of the team, you inform May and Pepper of what’s going on. Arrange for a ride back for May and Laura, I’m sure they’ll both want to come back.”

Before Happy could say anything the suit was putting itself together around Tony and he was flying away, thrusters full speed and only one thought on his mind; Peter.

 

~

 

The Avengers plus Scott, Sam, Rhodey, and Bucky all collectively agreed that Justin was doing a power play to prove that he could. The list was obviously just to show that he had something that, for once, Tony wanted but couldn’t have. The man was a psychopath who had Peter.

“So what are we gonna do? Should we storm the place and take Peter by force?” Clint asked, leaning against the table with a deadly look on his face, his eyes alight with the fire of a true assassin.

It was no secret to Tony that the Avengers and co. loved Peter as much as he did. From the second the kid tripped into the room and stuttered through his first conversation with  _ the Captain America _ , he had one over all of their hearts. Bruce would stay up well into the early hours of the morning arguing over scientific theories with the kid and Clint and Scott challenged him to a weekly duel in Mario Bros. Wanda and Steve had movie marathons with the kid, and Peter was the only one who had ever gotten away with falling asleep on the Winter Soldier’s arm.

“We can’t take the place by force, Justin will know and torture Peter into oblivion. I’ve known Justin for awhile, he won’t hold back, even on a kid. This list is easy to accomplish, I bet if we each take one or two tasks we’ll finish it within two days.”

A protest rose from everybody at the idea of leaving Peter with Hammer for so long, but Tony shut them down quickly, “Trust me, he won’t try anything with Peter unless we prompt him to. Let’s just focus on completing the list and getting Peter back as quickly as possible.”

Steve took over from there, dividing them into pairs of two and assigning each pair 3 tasks before sending them on there way.

Before Wanda left with Natasha to start on their mundane task of finding a “continuous strand of lights that’s over 100 feet long,” she pulled Tony into a tight hug murmuring quietly in his ear, “We’ll get Peter and make them pay.”

Tony pressed his hand too his face, fighting to control his emotions, before joining Bruce on making a list of every corporation in the world that owed over 1 billion in debt.

 

~

 

Justin Hammer smiled contently as he watched Peter Parker sleep. The kid was stirring more and more, his mouth opening slightly and closing again in silent, unuttered words. Justin went on his phone, pulling up the list of things Tony Stark would be running around trying to complete right now. Sudden movement caught the man’s attention and his head shot up to where Peter was now thrashing in the bed. Justin hurried over, hovering over, unsure of what to do. Then Peter was sitting up straight, panting and silently crying. Justin rushed to “comfort”.

“Shhh, Peter, shhhh. It’s ok, darling, I’ve got you, you’re safe with me. As long as you cooperate you’ll always be safe with me.” Justin murmured, hugging the sobbing teen close against his chest. Peter pushed against him lightly but determinedly, unable to budge the bigger man even an inch.

“No! No! I’m not safe here! I’m not safe with you!” I know I’m not. I know I’m not…” Peter trailed off quietly, becoming unsure of himself. Justin tried to reign in his anger towards Flash, who’s serum must’ve worn off quicker than they had planned, and focused his attention on Peter, who had returned to attempting to push Justin away.

“Peter stop trying to push me away, I’m just trying to help baby.”

Peter didn’t stop.

“Peter please stop now before you make me angry.”

Peter shoved slightly harder.

“Alright Peter that’s quite enough, stop now.”

Peter shoved at him again.

Justin lost control and slapped the teen across the face, the smack echoing in the dark room. Peter stopped.

“Oh sweetheart I’m so sorry, I didn’t want to hurt you, but you didn’t listen. You understand right? You need to listen.”

Peter was clutching his stinging cheek as guilty tears streamed down his face. Justin clicked his tongue at the sight, “I thought I could trust you darling, but I think I need to tie you up again. We can’t have you hurting me like that again.”

Peter looked at Justin with wide, bambi eyes, looking like a puppy who had been kicked one too many times. “No please, Justin, I’ll be good. The chains hurt me.”

“I know the do, Pete, but you’ve left me no choice, you get it right? You can’t hurt me baby, you’ll only end up upsetting me.”

Peter was crying again and shaking his head furiously, “Please, no Justin, I won’t do it again I promise, I’ll listen to you.”

Justin didn’t stop his advances, moving forward with the chains clutched in his hands.

“No Justin. Please no!”

 

~

 

Tony hadn’t slept in 50 hours when news came to him that Bucky and Clint had finished their final task (get a specific signed photograph of Prince, who was dead, so they had to track down someone to sell it to them). The genius didn’t waste any time in informing the rest of the team, via F.R.I.D.A.Y., and face calling Justin Hammer, who answered immediately.

“I was beginning to think that my list was too complicated for even a genius to figure out.”

“Where the fuck is Peter.”

“Oh Petey pie? He’s sitting beside me, he would talk to if he weren’t so...choked up.”

The camera turned around to show Peter, now sitting cross legged on the cot, chains securing his arms behind his back and a choker ball securely in his mouth. His head was slumped slightly, but Tony could see the fear and anxiety clear as day.

“Give him back.”

Justin ignored him, “Y’know Tony, I never did find out why you liked the kid so much. I mean, he was obedient at first, but then the uh,  _ medication _ if you get my drift, wore off and suddenly he was intolerable. He made me do this to him.”

Peter made what would have been a whimper, if the metal choker in his mouth didn’t muffle the sound.

“Hammer I swear to god-”

“Yes yes I know, you’ll sict the Avengers on me, I get it. You’ll find Peter in the alley behind his favorite deli in Queens. Oh, and Stark, and think it would be wise to remember that I’m not the only one who knows that Peter Parker means something to you. Ta ta, old friend.”

The screen went black.

The rest of the team were gathered behind Tony. No one said anything as the Iron Man suit assembled around Tony and the War Machine suit assembled around Rhodey.

No one said anything as they watched the pair race towards Queens, towards Peter.

 

~

 

It was good thing that Flash’s serum had mostly worn away, or else Peter wouldn’t have known any better than to fight against both Iron Man and War Machine. Peter hadn’t initially remembered that he was Spider-Man, but it had come back to him shortly before Justin gave him the second dose, and when he woke up again, he could still remember. He also remembered that his identity was secret, so using any of his notable abilities against Hammer would’ve been futile.

Exhaustion got the better of him when he saw Mr. Stark’s worried face, and he allowed himself to be carried back to the tower, head tucked against Tony’s chest. The faint hum of the arc reactor was what lulled him to a deep sleep.

He woke up again a few hours later, hooked up to an I.V. and an oxygen tube tucked neatly behind his ears and leading to his nose, tickling him slightly.

Dr. Banner was sitting with his back turned to Peter, furiously typing and adjusting on a screen Peter couldn’t see. Sam, Scott, Bucky, and Clint were playing a game of B.S on the ground while Wanda peacefully knit in a chair tucked away in the corner. Tony and Rhodey were seated on one side of Peter’s bed, with Steve and Natasha sitting on the other. All four were having a quiet conversation, not aware that Peter was awake yet.

“Wha…?”

Tony sat up straight and grinned at the teen, “Glad to see you awake underoos, you’ve had quite the eventful few days.”

“Wr’s...Jstin.” Peter slurred, tongue feeling heavy and unnatural in his mouth. He hated it, because he knew it was wrong, but he craved Justin’s light touch, the soothing caresses the offered the boy while Peter was still oblivious.

Tony’s eyebrows crinkled as everyone in the room came over to stand by the bed, Sam ruffled the kid’s hair gently and Scott offered a fist bump, which Peter softly reciprocated.

“He’s gone kid, left New York before we could get to him, but don’t worry, he’ll never touch you again.”

“May?”

“On a flight here right now, should get in within the hour.”

Peter nodded, satisfied with the answers and leaned back into the pillows, “I know you guys want to know what happened.”

Clint shuffled his feet awkwardly, “We don’t want to push you, but we were wondering how someone like Hammer gets the upper hand on Spider-Man.”

Peter took a second to think, he didn’t have to include anything. They weren’t asking about his time with Hammer, but merely how he managed to get Peter in the first place. He could talk about that.

“It was this kid in my grade named Flash, he’s always hated me and I guess Justin reached out to him to make some sort of memory repressor. I’m not sure how that would even work, something about stopping neurons to a certain part of the brain? Anyways, Flash took my backpack then attacked me in the school bathroom. That’s the last I remember.”

The team seemed satisfied, all but Natasha.

“And then? What happened while you were with him.”

“Nat…” Bucky’s tone was a low warning, but Tasha persisted anyway.

“We need to know the full story. Being ignorant will only hurt us in the long run.”

Peter steeled himself and sit up slightly straighter, everybody felt the immediate change.

“I…” it was hard for Peter to even begin, he cleared his throat and tried, “I woke up in some apartment in Queens I think. It was abandoned. I couldn’t really remember anything. I didn’t even remember I was Spider-Man at first. He was nice to me, and I recognized his name so i trusted him. I was so stupid. I was chained to the floor and I still decided to trust my captor. He kept injecting me with this stuff that I know now was Flash’s serum, but he didn’t know about me healing, so I began to remember things and fight back. He uh, didn’t like that much.”

So much pity coming at him from every angle of the room. Tony did something uncharacteristic and leaned out of his chair to engulf the kid in a hug.

“It’s ok guys, I’m safe now.”

But they all knew the sad truth.

Peter would never be safe again.


End file.
